--- title: John Kelly's Days As Chief of Staff May Be Numbered description: President Donald Trump tweeted this week that he has confidence in White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. canonical: https://time.com/5118990/donald-trump-john-kelly-chief-staff/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-25T18:38:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:41.290Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Expressed Confidence in John Kelly. Kelly Might Want to Brush Up His Resume og:description: Trump has often expressed confidence in people right before firing them og:url: https://time.com/5118990/donald-trump-john-kelly-chief-staff/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte7756a99071dc3cf/6988e587fb4eac0d2389486d/john-kelly-donald-trump-tweets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRUMP-KELLY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Expressed Confidence in John Kelly. Kelly Might Want to Brush Up His Resume twitter:description: Trump has often expressed confidence in people right before firing them twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte7756a99071dc3cf/6988e587fb4eac0d2389486d/john-kelly-donald-trump-tweets.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Expressed Confidence in John Kelly. Kelly Might Want to Brush Up His Resume > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Trump's Daily Briefings [Watch (HLS stream): CIA Director Mike Pompeo on Trump's Daily Briefings](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PxROUUjF.m3u8) (0:23)  _Published 2018-01-23. The director of the CIA spoke at length Tuesday about how President Donald Trump receives his regular intelligence briefings, a topic of some debate among the Administration’s critics._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jan 25, 2018 6:38 PM UTC  President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with newly sworn-in White House Chief of Staff John Kelly at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 31, 2017. President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with newly sworn-in White House Chief of Staff John Kelly at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 31, 2017.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Jan 25, 2018 6:38 PM UTC President Donald Trump tweeted this week that he has confidence in White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. But if Trump’s past comments are any guide, that might mean it’s time for Kelly to start looking for a new job. During his first year in office, Trump has used expressions of confidence to push back against negative news stories, assert his control over White House staff and, ironically, signal that he actually does not have confidence in someone. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/955806333667807232) Because of these conflicting reasons, it’s hard to draw an exact cause-and-effect. But it’s safe to say that if Trump is publicly expressing confidence in your position, you might want to freshen up your LinkedIn profile. In Kelly’s case, the tweet appears to have been a response to a [_Vanity Fair_ article](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/01/are-trump-and-kelly-heading-for-divorce) which alleged that Trump was upset with Kelly’s recent remarks — telling Fox News the President had [“evolved”](http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/17/politics/white-house-john-kelly-daca-fox/index.html) on the border wall (which Trump [quickly disputed](https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/18/politics/john-kelly-donald-trump-border-wall/index.html)) and telling Democratic lawmakers that the President was [“uninformed”](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pushes-back-on-chief-of-staff-claims-that-border-wall-pledges-uninformed/2018/01/18/78960980-fc68-11e7-8f66-2df0b94bb98a%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.a1085115b790) on how a wall would work. The money quote in the piece — attributed, as these kinds of things often are, to a source briefed on a call Trump had with a friend, so reader beware: “I’ve got another nut job here who thinks he’s running things.” Whether the story is accurate or not, it’s true that Kelly is increasingly in the hot seat. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina [blamed](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-22/trump-aides-kelly-miller-draw-fire-for-fanning-shutdown-fight) Kelly (and White House aide Stephen Miller) for hindering negotiations on the [government shutdown](http://time.com/5109899/government-shutdown-explainer/) after the chief of staff personally intervened to scotch a handshake deal between Trump and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. But the telltale sign may be Trump expressing his confidence. (Or worse, refusing to say whether he has confidence.) Here’s a quick review. ## Michael Flynn: ‘Full confidence’ White House counselor Kellyanne Conway tells MSNBC on Feb. 13 that Trump has [“full confidence”](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/kellyanne-conway-michael-flynn-president-trump-full-confidence) in National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Seven hours later, [Flynn is fired](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/us/politics/donald-trump-national-security-adviser-michael-flynn.html). ## Steve Bannon: ‘We’ll see’ Asked in an [April interview](https://nypost.com/2017/04/11/trump-wont-definitively-say-he-still-backs-bannon/) if he still has confidence in chief strategist Steve Bannon, Trump does not give a definitive answer. Asked again on Aug. 15, Trump is [again unclear](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/15/trump-steve-bannon-white-house-job-241659). “We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,” he says. Three days later, [Bannon is fired](http://time.com/4907333/steve-bannon-fired-trump-analysis/). ## James Comey: ‘Confidence’ White House spokesman Sean Spicer says on May 3 that Trump has [“confidence” in FBI Director James Comey](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/331793-spicer-trump-has-confidence-in-comey) despite tweets criticizing the FBI’s treatment of Hillary Clinton. Six days later, [Comey is fired](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/james-comey-fired-fbi.html). > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/862267781336752128) ## Reince Priebus: Won’t say White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders [won’t say](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/07/27/sanders-wont-say-if-trump-has-confidence-in-chief-of-staff-reince-priebus/?utm%5Fterm=.06ee9f7d84bf) on July 27 if Trump has confidence in Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who is [fired the next day](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/28/us/politics/reince-priebus-white-house-trump.html). > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/891040645581873152) ## Tom Price: ‘No immediate plans’ Asked if he would fire Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price over controversial use of a private jet, Trump says on Sept. 27 that he’s “not happy” but has [“no immediate plans”](http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/27/politics/donald-trump-tom-price-plane-travel/index.html) to remove him. The next day, Price [says](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-price-flights%5Fus%5F59cd08e0e4b02aef6cd7f44b) “I think we’ve still got the confidence of the President.” The day after that, Price [resigns under pressure](https://www.cnn.com/2017/09/29/politics/tom-price-resigns/index.html). ## Jeff Sessions: ‘Absolutely’ confident Amid reports that Trump is unhappy with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Sanders [says](http://time.com/4811331/donald-trump-jeff-sessions-confidence/) on June 8 that the president “absolutely” has confidence in him. It’s later reported by Politico and the New York _Times_ that Sessions [submitted a resignation letter](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/14/us/politics/jeff-sessions-trump.html) in May that Trump ultimately turned down. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5118990/donald-trump-john-kelly-chief-staff/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5118990/donald-trump-john-kelly-chief-staff/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Expressed Confidence in John Kelly. 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